February 14, 2010

“From the first day of Spring Training, we are going to create how we are going to play during the season,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen during a recent interview. “I’m not waiting for the last week of Spring Training.

“You are going to see us on the first day hitting and running, bunting. Well, hopefully, they get on base, but that’s how we play the game.”

So, why the discussion about the White Sox fans and Juan Pierre, et al? Well, let’s temper that PECOTA Beta projection a bit, and assume that Getz also gets caught stealing a couple more times in 2010, and say that given 700 PA, he’d hit something like:

.280/.340/.390, with 40-6 on SB attempts.

The White Sox inexplicably decided to replace the above stat line from a nearly-average 2b defender with a left fielder whose average stats (per 700 PA) the past 5 years have been:

.289/.334/.364, with 58-18 on SB attempts.

And the replacement will cost $3 million in 2010 and %5 million in 2011. Getz will cost $400 thousand each year.

The so-called “Cubs tax,” would add roughly $1 per ticket for all 15 Cactus League teams. That money and a state-imposed rental-car tax hike would help raise $59 million over 20 years to pay off bonds that would be issued by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority for the Cubs to build their baseball Taj Mahal.

Tyler Flowers, C: Somebody’s got to sit behind the plate on this club, even if it’s a White Sox rookie with only 20 big league at-bats to his credit. And his last name is the tried-and-true Valentine’s Day icebreaker and argument-solver.

The 2010 model is about pitching and defense, getting on base and creating pressure, scoring runs by any means necessary. There is still power, but it’s more spread out.

The 2010 model is about getting on base? is any 2010 acquisition on base threat? Juan Pierre? .339 OBP for the last 3 years. Mark Teahen? .330. Andruw Jones? .304. Omar Vizquel? .301. A ‘during the 2009 season’ acquisition like Alex Rios? .330. Mark Kotsay? .315. And we lost a starter with a .380 OBP. I don’t see any ‘getting on base’ player. I hope the pitching will be strong. Otherwise 2010 will suck. Big Time.